5.4.17

This week the Horror Duo take a look at a pair of films recommended by regular listener, The Anomalous Host. Forest reviews the controversial, race based White Dog. Cory ponders the message behind Saul Bass' Phase IV as well as it's nearly lost ending.

Forest & Cory discuss Wrestlemania 33, as well as the long anticipated and very touching retirement of Mark Calway. All this and the Horror Duo are finally subscribing to the Shudder streaming service, thanks to the generous donation to one of the Filthiest Animals, Kenneth - Thanks!

"This #MonsterMonday is dedicated to the career of the bad ass, the dead man, the phenom, the undertaker - Mark Calaway. Thank you!" -@SlaughterFilm1

Now isn't this one of the things movies are all about? Bringing up topics that demand discussion and critique? The White Dog review was everything I hoped it would be. You also have to give props to the best actor(s) of the movie, the dog himself, though they ended up using 3 different dogs for the role if I remember correctly.

Same thing applies to the ants in Phase IV. As for the ending, some youtube commenter named Yesica Macias had a pretty good nutshell interpretation of it (though yours was good too):"Adam and Eve being thrown out of the Garden of Eden, fallen angel,, alchemy, singularity, the opening of the third eye, sex majick ritual, Sun worship, one becomes own God and the Return to Eden"

Glad you guys enjoyed the films, and thank you for reviewing them in-depth.

Thanks for reviewing White Dog, one of a few films I ask you to review a while back. I really love the film. I have some interesting facts about the film -- A French novelist/filmmaker, Romain Gary, first his story in Life magazine, a true account of how his wife, actress Jean Seberg, brought home a seemingly friendly white German Shepard, only to witness it repeatedly attack black people. Gary re-purposed the story as a novel, published in 1970.- Roman Polanski was signed to direct, but his European exile ended his involvement and the script made the rewrite rounds, with drafts penned by both Thomas Baum and Nicholas Kazan.- A series of directors and actresses turned down the script because of it's hot-button content. - At one point in 1980, the film was set to be the directional debut of Tony Scott.- Jaws had premiered just six years prior, and it's influence is particularly felt in the scene where Carruthers tells a gruesome tale of an attack dog who mauled and killed a friend.- Paramount executives described exactly what they wanted White Dog to be: "Jaws with paws."- NAACP criticized that the film pushed a racist message and threatened to boycott the film. Paramount grew hesitant, after a limited series of preview screenings in Seattle, Denver and Detroit throughout 1982, the studio shelved the film. White Dog went virtually unseen in America for over 25 years.- Ennio Morricone celebrated his 53rd birthday during composition of the film's score (November 10, 1981.)